daytime naps for a 2 month old? Please help

[gingernutlover]

My dd is 2m and we now have nightimes kind of sorted she sleeps from 7 to 7 ish waking for a feed around 1/2am this is fantastic and the HV has suggested we start on a day time nap routine. She said that she should have a morning and afternoon nap but did not give more specifics. dd battles all morning, sometimes I manage a 30minute nap at around 9am and then is exhausted by 10.30/11.00 so doesn't take her mid morning feed properly, she then sleeps usually from 11-2.30/3pm and will then be awake again until her bedtime, again fighting sleep from 4ish onwards. She doesn't take her bedtime feed very well either as is tired.

Don't get me wrong, I am delighted with the nights but her grisling all morning and afternoon is getting me down, the HV tells me she will work round to 2 equal size naps but I would welcome any advice......please!!!

at 2 months your lo should need a nap after approximately 1.5-2 hours of being awake or they will get horrendously overtired and will not settle easily to sleep at all - basically ignore your hv and follow your lo's cues. My dd didnt go to 2 naps until she was 5/6 months old and I would dread to think what she would have been like if I'd tried to keep her awake longer.

Even Gina Ford lets them have 3 naps at this age (a short morning and late afternoon nap with a longer lunchtime nap)

Your lo sounds a bit overtired during the day and this can make them hyper and more resistant to sleep - try starting your naptime routine at the 1.5hour mark and you may have more luck in getting your lo to sleep without a fight.

thankyou seona1973 this sounds more acheivable

how does this sound

dd wakes at approx 6.30/7am so should be ready for nap by about 8.30 ish perhaps for 1 hour waking for her wash, dress and bottle and ready for another nap by 11.30ish for a couple of hours bottle etc at approx 1.30/2pm then another short nap in the afternoon and up for evening til bed time.

Another thing, I am experimenting with a little routine for naps, then one we have for bed is play, bath, pyjamas and sleeping bag, bottle and sleep which seems to work but obviously not suitable for daytime naps. At the moment I take her to nursery for cuddle, sing to her, finish last bottle if any left and put her down, sit next to cot and rub tummy until settles. I would appreciate any other suggestions too.

Agree with Seona - following your little ones cues and putting her down when she shows signs of tiredness should help with putting her down for a nap.
One other suggestion for the nap routine: whilst having your cuddle include a snuggly toy that she doesn't get at any other time so that she will associate it with sleep - you can then take this with you if you need to be out at a naptime to help recreate the home experience.

thankyou, she has a lovely soft doggy which would be perfect and I have not let her play with it yet (she was given so much) so will try letting her touch it and leaving it beside her for naps. She is asleep now and has been for about half an hour so hoping she'll manage a little more and be awake enough for her bed time bottle!

okay, am tying to put her down at about half eight, quarter to nine ish as she woke at about 6.45. She seems tirted but just cries and cries, have I missed the window of opportunity or is she just being stubborn? Please help, this happens evry nap time yesterday and now today, just want to get it right, please help, feeling very low about it all, she was also up 3 times in night wouldn't take feed properly and feel knackered and p*ssed off please help

should I try pick up put down?

please someone help me I feel like I am going mad

Hi If she won't settle in her cot, can you rock her to sleep in her buggy? Just to get her used to sleeping at this time. We had to do this with dd for all her naps until she was about 3 months old, then one nap at a time started putting her in her cot. Also, is her room dark? that seemed to help with dd.

Sorry v quick post, have to dash out this am

thankyou, I did used to put her to sleep in buggy but was told not to by HV, she has her dummy at the moment so maybe that will calm her down, buggy is in car and i am in towel so will get dressed quick I think

I think 2 months is too early to imopse a routine. Her own routine will begin to emerge around 3-4 months.

DS used to have a nap after each feed on my knee on a breastfeeeding cushion, so I basically spent the first 6 months on the couch. He developed a routine around 3-4 months and would only sleep for half an hour 3 times a day.

It is tiring but (and I really don't mean to sound patronising here) if you just accept it and stop fighting it (as DD is doing) you'll find it becomes a bit easier. You're both still just discovering each other. Don't make anything else your priority or it will drive you nuts when you never get it done!

Sometimes I'm sure HV just make it up. They al contradict each other and are annoyingly vague when it comes to concrete advice. Trust your instincts and well..surrender to it! x

point taken, but my instinct is that she is tired !?!?!

do not think this will ever get easier, just wish I could go out to work like dh.

Is she colicy?

And stop that thought imediatley! It is hard and although the first 6 months feels like it passes inslow motion the next 6 months flies by and (believe it or not) you'll hardly remember the place your in now - unless you make it even more harder on yourself by fighting it. You're a mum now. BUT don't panic! It's not all you'll ever be for ever more.

No, not colicky I don't think. Thank you for your advice, I gave up on the nap and she is now on her changing mat playing with toys and giving me bigs smiles, will get her dressed and see what happens I think. Dopes not help that I am a control freak teacher who is used to running her whole life by a timetable (smile)

I'm so much more chilled out than I used to be and much happier for it. It is sometimes scary and there were times that I thought I was lost forever in this 'mum' thing but things change all the time so don't feel your drowning in it. You will emerge a butterfly again. The best bit of advice from a friend who'd had a baby before me was that in the first year there is a two week rotation where everything can and will change. Whatever the phase, it'll last on average two weeks. It really is a roller coaster ride.

Hi there - I've had my Arthur in a routine since we came home from hospital. His naps vary but here is his routine:

7:30am Wake and big bottle
8:45am starts to rub eyes and wimper so swaddle and have a cuddle on a chair in his room. about 9am put his in his cot and sit with him pat on chest if necessary and he drifts off.
10:30 wakes again and bottle
11:45am signs of sleepiness again and so start nap process again.
1:30pm wake and big bottle
2:45pm Nap again
4:30pm Wake and bottle
Evens get a bit ratty and I usually go out walking for my exercise and him in the stroller to get him to nap...
6:45pm Pants off on the change table (prevent nappy rsh)
7:15pm Daddy does bath and gets pj's on...
7:30pm Big bottle and bed...
10:30pm Dream Feed bottle

sleeps through til 5:30am and we've been just patting him back to sleep as he seems to want to drop this feed... and wake at 7:30am again..

To help naps - I sit on a chair beside him and pat him although leave the room when his eyes are still open and he's starting to drift off...I used to sit there for 30 minutes but now its about 2 or 3!!

Hope that helps,
Justine and Arthur (7 weeks)

Tedebear & Arthur's routine sounds very similar to what we had round about the 2 month mark - 1.5hours awake then 1.5 hours asleep. If your dd was awake at 6.45 you may well have missed the window at 8.30-8.45 - maybe worth trying to put dd down closer to the 1.5hour mark. It is all trial and error until you find what works for you. Then of course 2 weeks later everything changes and you are back to trial and error and tearing your hair out again.

You're exactly right Muddlingthru - everything does change!! Although there is usually a reason (hopefully) There have been 2 times when the routine gets thrown out the window - firstly when he was getting hungrier he was waking early from his naps, luckily I spotted it and added an ounce to some of his bottles until all bottles were 5ozs, next time it was when he got a nose cold, because he was snotty he wasn't able to breath through his nose and he'd wake up tossing his head about...

I'm sure something else will come along soon!! But missing his sleepy cues was the biggest learning curve - once I got used to that there are alot less tears and crying!! and I'm starting to get stuff done during the day which helps my sanity!!